Construction toy

ABSTRACT

A construction toy having a plurality of equilateral triangular construction elements adapted to be sequentially interlocked together to create a variety of free form constructions. Each triangle is transparent, flexible, made of resilient plastic, and has locking slots extending from the triangle vertices toward the triangle centroid. The locking slots have a working width less than the triangle thickness which allows the triangles to be firmly interlocked together. The locking slots also have a length of approximately three-sevenths of the distance from a triangle vertex to the triangle centroid.

United States Patent Reitzel et al.

[ CONSTRUCTION TOY [72] Inventors: John S. Reitzel; Gail L. Reitzel,both of West Concord, Mass. [73] Assignee: Reitzel Designs, Inc., WestConcord,

Mass.

[22] Filed: June 16, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 153,500

[52] US. Cl ..46/30, 46/31 [51 Int. Cl. ..A63h 33/06 [58] Field ofSearch ..46/25, 30, 31

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,564,758 2/1971 Willis..46/25 2,63 l ,747 3/1953 Stote ..46/25 2,633,662 4/1953 Nelsonu..46/25 51 Oct. 17, 1972 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene AssistantExaminer-Robert F. Cutting Attorney-Chittick, Pfund, Birch, Samuels &Gauthier [57] ABSTRACT to be firmly interlocked together. The lockingslots also have a length of approximately three-sevenths of the distancefrom a triangle vertex to the triangle centroid.

6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PKTE'N'TEDum 11 I972 3,59 12 INVENTORS JOHNS. REITZEL GAIL L. REITZEL BY Wag 6M4, $6M 11% ATI'ORNEYS 1CONSTRUCTIONTOY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I There have been many priorconstruction toys utilizing linked elements. Examples are shown in US.Pat. Nos. 927,499; 2,446,120; 3,477,188; and 3,537,706. This inventionis an improvement over these construction toys and is differenttherefrom because of constructional features that are not readilyapparent, yet which produce a vastly more pleasing aesthetic result.

It is an object of this invention to provide a construction toy which isinexpensive to manufacture, is safe for children to play with, and haslong-lasting use qualities.

Another object of this invention is to provide a construction toy whichis designed to be capable of producing an endless number of free formconfigurations that are extremely pleasing to the eye.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is aplan view of the construction element of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of two construction elements, eachidentical to that shown in FIG. 1, interlocked together; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of eight construction elements interlockedtogether to form a closed ring.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED, EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a constructionelement made preferably of flexible plastic material such as acetate,styrene or vinyl. Element 10 is preferably transparent and uncolored orlightly tinted although it could be opaque and/or colored.

Element 10 is an equilateral triangle measuring approximately 3 incheson a side. The centroid 12 of the triangle is shown in FIG. 1 forpurposes of discussion but does not actually appear on the manufacturedelement 10. The construction elements are usually stamped out of largerplastic sheets or rolls and are packaged approximately 52 to acontainer. Obviously, a larger or smaller number of elements 10 could bepackaged together.

Each construction element 10 contains three locking slots 14 whichextend from the three triangle vertices toward centroid 12. The slots 14have a width (as seen in FIG. 1) along at least a portion of the slotlength of slightly less than the thickness of the construction ele' mentmaterial. That is, the working portion of the slot nearest to thecentroid is slightly narrower than the element material. The slotwallsthemselves may be parallel or may converge toward the centroid 12.The slot tips 16 and 18 adjacent to the vertices are rounded to preventsharpness.

Locking slots 14 havea length which is less than onehalf and more thanone-fourth 'of the distance from the vertex to the centroid. Preferably,the slots extend approximately three-sevenths' of the distance from thevertex to the centroid. FIG. ,1 shows the preferred construction elementconfiguration.

FIG. 2 shows the results of interlocking two construction elements 10together. The two elements are joined by first aligning them at theirmutual slot openings and by then pushing them together to produce aforce fit. This force fit is: easily accomplished despite the narrowslot widthbecause the plastic construction element material is resilientand readily yields under pressure. The result is an excellent bondbetween the elements which will not inadvertently loosen under .theforce of gravity regardless of the orientation of the interlockedelements.

. An interesting feature to note is that the use of flexible trianglematerial and the employment of narrow locking slots permits the twoconstruction elements to be firmly locked together at various relativeangles other than perpendicular. This can be done because when the slotis spread, usually the flexible triangle tip portions 16 and 18 oneither side of the slot 14 open apart in opposite directions normal tothe element plane. Thus, if an interlocked pair of transparent, flexibleelements were viewed so that one element A was seen in approximate planand the other element B was seen in approximate elevation, both tips 16and 18 of element B would be clearly visible above and below transparentelement A. Tip 16 would spread away from tip 18 not in their mutualoriginal plane, but normal thereto. This spreading action causes the twoconstruction elements to be interlocked at an angle other thanperpendicular with respect to each other.

The non-uniformity of the interlocking angle is a feature of thisinvention. Also, the relatively long slot length is a feature of thisinvention and produces a very intricate free form configuration which isquite pleasing to the eye. Also, the flexibility of the elements is afeature which allows them to bend out of their planar shape to formunusual structures.

For example, FIG. 3 shows eight triangles interlocked together to forman intricate ring. The long slot length provides for the design of adenser arrangement of diverse planes. Many prior art constructions givethe appearance of polygons linked together at their adjacent corners.FIG. 3 shows how different is the appearance of the linked elements ofthis invention which have a more intimate relationship.

In operation, construction elements 10 can be sequentially linkedtogether to form chains, rings, spirals, imaginative pinwheels, trees,puzzles, birds, bridges, flowers, or various free forms. There is anendless variety of possible configurations which can be constructed withthis invention.

The above description obviously suggests many possible variations andmodifications of this invention which would not depart from its spiritand scope. It should be understood, therefore, that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of structure specificallydescribed or illustrated and that within the scope of the appendedclaims, it may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described orillustrated.

We claim:

l. A construction toy having a plurality of identical constructionelements adapted to be sequentially interlocked together to create afree form configuration, each said construction element comprising: aflexible, planar, equilateral triangle having three pairs of facingwalls therein forming three locking slots extending from the threetriangle vertices toward the triangle centroid, each said pair of slotwalls being spaced apart, over a substantial portion of their lengthbeginning at their centroid ends, a distance less than the thickness ofsaid construction element wherein said initially planar constructionelements when interlocked together become warped out of their initiallyplanar configurations and are non-perpendicular to each other.

2. The construction toy of claim 1 wherein each said slot has a lengthless than one-half and more than onefourth of the distance from atriangle vertex to the triangle centroid.

3. The construction toy of claim 1 wherein said construction element istransparent.

4. The construction toy of claim 1 wherein said con struction element ismade of resilient plastic.

5. The construction toy of claim 1 wherein said construction elementslots each have a length of approximately three-sevenths of the distancefrom a triangle vertex to the triangle centroid.

6. The construction toy of claim 1 wherein said construction element istransparent, flexible and made of resilient plastic, and said lockingslots each have a length of approximately three-sevenths of the distancefrom a triangle vertex to the triangle centroid.

1. A construction toy having a plurality of identical constructionelements adapted to be sequentially interlocked together to create afree form configuration, each said construction element comprising: aflexible, planar, equilateral triangle having three pairs of facingwalls therein forming three locking slots extending from the threetriangle Vertices toward the triangle centroid, each said pair of slotwalls being spaced apart, over a substantial portion of their lengthbeginning at their centroid ends, a distance less than the thickness ofsaid construction element wherein said initially planar constructionelements when interlocked together become warped out of their initiallyplanar configurations and are non-perpendicular to each other.
 2. Theconstruction toy of claim 1 wherein each said slot has a length lessthan one-half and more than one-fourth of the distance from a trianglevertex to the triangle centroid.
 3. The construction toy of claim 1wherein said construction element is transparent.
 4. The constructiontoy of claim 1 wherein said construction element is made of resilientplastic.
 5. The construction toy of claim 1 wherein said constructionelement slots each have a length of approximately three-sevenths of thedistance from a triangle vertex to the triangle centroid.
 6. Theconstruction toy of claim 1 wherein said construction element istransparent, flexible and made of resilient plastic, and said lockingslots each have a length of approximately three-sevenths of the distancefrom a triangle vertex to the triangle centroid.